Is Fertilizer a Public or Private Good in Africa? An Opinion Piece

by Christina H. Gladwin, Alan Randall, Andrew Schmitz, and G. Edward Schuh Traditionally, fertilizer has been treated by economists as a private, not public, good [1]. Soil scientist Pedro Sanchez and researchers associated with the International Center for Research on Agroforestry (ICRAF), however, claim that ICRAF’s agroforestry innovations should be adopted by African farmers as an inexpensive […]

Gender-Sensitive LP Models in Soil Fertility Research for Smallholder Farmers: Reaching De Jure Female Headed Households in Zimbabwe

by Maxwell Mudhara, Peter. E. Hildebrand, and Christina. H. Gladwin Introduction Zimbabwe faces a challenge in meeting food requirements of its 12 million people. The population is growing at three percent per annum compared to 1-1.5 percent per annum growth in agricultural production. Therefore, per capita food production is declining. To meet its food requirements, the […]

AgroForestry Innovations in Africa: Can They Improve Soil Fertility on Women Farmers’ Fields?

by Christina H. Gladwin, Jennifer S. Peterson, and Robert Uttaro Abstract Most observers agree that the verdict is still out for agroforestry innovations known as improved fallows, which may take a decade for farmers to test properly. First farmers plant several small plots of different tree species, cut them after two years and plant a cash […]

Gendered Scripts and Declining Soil Fertility in Southern Ethiopia

by Michael Dougherty Abstract Enset (Ensete ventricosum) is a banana-like plant grown throughout the Southern Highlands of Ethiopia as the major staple food crop by many cultural groups. The issue of soil fertility among enset-growing farmers of Sidama, located in the Southern Region of Ethiopia, is embedded within the larger process of how a household […]

Diminishing Choices: Gender, Small Bags of Fertilizer, and Household Food Security Decisions in Malawi

by Robert P. Uttaro Abstract This paper examines two decisions farmers in southern Malawi make every planting season: whether or not to acquire increasingly expensive chemical fertilizers and whether or not to buy and plant equally expensive hybrid maize seed. Both choices are interrelated. Maize is the staple food crop in Malawi and the key […]

Gender and Soil Fertility Management in Mbale District, Southeastern Uganda

by Abe Goldman and Kathleen Heldenbrand Introduction This paper explores gender-related aspects of agriculture and agricultural change in a densely populated, high potential area in eastern Uganda, particularly in relation to declining productivity in the region. Much recent literature has investigated the impacts of specific agricultural policies and projects on women farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. […]

Gender and Soil Fertility in Uganda: A Comparison of Soil Fertility Indicators for Women and Men’s Agricultural Plots

by Peter Nkedi-Kizza, Jacob Aniku, Kafui Awuma, and Christina H. Gladwin Abstract The removal of subsidy under the structural adjustment programs of the World Bank has increased the cost of fertilizers and lowered the level of fertilizer input use among the small-scale farmers in Uganda and in many African countries. It is also reported that female […]

Gender and Soil Fertility in Africa: Introduction

by Christina H. Gladwin Abstract Soil fertility is the number-one natural resource in Africa; yet its depletion on smallholder farms has led to stagnant or decreasing per capita food production all over Africa during the last two decades. Unexamined – except in this special edition – are the gender impacts of the soil fertility crisis […]

African Studies Quarterly

Tag: Soil Fertility